George Bush Intercontinental/Houston in May 2026

75.1%departed on time

BTS: A flight is counted as on time if it arrived less than 15 minutes after its scheduled time. Only carriers with at least 0.5 percent of domestic scheduled passenger revenue report.

In May 2026, reporting carriers scheduled 10,105 domestic departures from George Bush Intercontinental/Houston (IAH). 75.1% left less than 15 minutes late and 76.5% reached their destination on time; 0.5% were cancelled.

Nationally that month, 77.1% of flights departed on time and 77.6% arrived on time, so IAH departures were 2.0 points below the national departure figure.

A year earlier, in May 2025, the airport had 10,238 departures with 71.4% leaving on time: a change of +3.7 points, with flights down 1%.

Flights arriving at IAH that month were on time 76.5% of the time (10,109 scheduled arrivals).

Of the delay minutes that carriers assigned to a BTS cause category that month, late-arriving aircraft 42%, air carrier 32% and national aviation system 19%.

On time 76.5%
Arrived 15+ minutes late 22.7%
Cancelled 0.5%
Diverted 0.3%

Every scheduled departure from IAH in May 2026, judged by arrival at the destination.

May 2026 against a year earlier, the airport's year and the nation

Measure	May 2026	May 2025	IAH, 12 months to Jul 2026	All reported flights, May 2026
Departed on time	75.1%	71.4%	78.1%	77.1%
Arrived on time	76.5%	71.9%	77.6%	77.6%
Cancelled	0.5%	1.3%	1.1%	0.9%
Average departure delay (late minutes only)	18.9 min	25.0 min	17.2 min	16.0 min
Scheduled departures a day	337	341	326	20,391
Scheduled departures	10,105	10,238	119,020	611,735

Airlines that month

Reporting carrier	Flights	Share	On time	Avg arrival delay	Cancelled
UA United Airlines	6,414	63%	78.2%	4.7 min	0.3%
OO SkyWest Airlines	1,226	12%	71.4%	18.5 min	0.6%
DL Delta Air Lines	767	8%	79.1%	5.4 min	0.4%
AA American Airlines	697	7%	75.5%	18.4 min	1.0%
F9 Frontier Airlines	564	6%	71.1%	16.3 min	0.0%
MQ Envoy Air	127	1%	68.5%	27.5 min	1.6%
AS Alaska Airlines	107	1%	86.0%	-5.7 min	0.0%
OH PSA Airlines	84	1%	67.9%	18.8 min	2.4%
B6 JetBlue Airways	53	1%	60.4%	34.7 min	1.9%
YX Republic Airline	50	0%	78.0%	-3.1 min	0.0%
NK Spirit Airlines	16	0%	18.8%	58.0 min	31.3%

Busiest routes that month

Route	Cities	Flights	On time	Avg arrival delay	Cancelled
IAH–ORD	Houston to Chicago	539	75.1%	6.2 min	0.0%
IAH–DFW	Houston to Dallas/Fort Worth	518	68.9%	27.3 min	3.1%
IAH–ATL	Houston to Atlanta	446	69.7%	14.5 min	0.4%
IAH–LAX	Houston to Los Angeles	422	83.9%	2.4 min	0.2%
IAH–DEN	Houston to Denver	412	83.0%	-2.7 min	0.0%
IAH–LGA	Houston to New York	347	76.1%	3.4 min	1.4%
IAH–SFO	Houston to San Francisco	307	66.4%	14.1 min	0.0%
IAH–MIA	Houston to Miami	294	76.9%	9.8 min	0.0%
IAH–DCA	Houston to Washington	289	73.4%	7.6 min	0.7%
IAH–EWR	Houston to Newark	288	80.9%	-0.4 min	1.0%
IAH–MCO	Houston to Orlando	274	83.2%	0.1 min	0.4%
IAH–LAS	Houston to Las Vegas	263	81.4%	5.7 min	0.4%

By scheduled departure hour

On-time share:under 62%6270768288% and over

Share of departures that left less than 15 minutes late, by scheduled hour (local time), May 2026.

Delay causes

BTS cause category	Share of delay minutes	National, May 2026	Minutes
Air carrier	31.5%	33.0%	53,030
Late-arriving aircraft	41.7%	40.4%	70,215
National Aviation System	19.1%	20.5%	32,085
Extreme weather	7.7%	6.0%	12,965
Security	0.1%	0.1%	91

168,386 delay minutes on 2,296 flights that arrived 15 or more minutes late and carried a cause report. Carriers assign the categories; see what each category means.

Questions and answers

How many flights left IAH on time in May 2026?

75.1% of 10,105 scheduled domestic departures left less than 15 minutes late, and 76.5% reached their destination on time. The national figures that month were 77.1% and 77.6%.

How does that compare with a year earlier?

In May 2025, 71.4% of 10,238 departures left on time and 1.3% were cancelled, against 75.1% and 0.5% in May 2026.

Provenance

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Reporting Carrier On-Time Performance, file for May 2026; public domain. Domestic scheduled flights by reporting carriers, totals and averages only. The site's data runs through July 2026. Full record for IAH · methodology · corrections.